Problem: Vanessa buys a basket of bananas on sale for $\$12$ before tax. The sales tax is $13\%$. What is the total price Vanessa pays for the basket of bananas? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Solution: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of bananas. ${13\%} \times {$12} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $13\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{13}{100}$ which is also equal to $13 \div 100$ $13 \div 100 = 0.13$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.13} \times {$12} = {$1.56}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Vanessa paid. ${$1.56} + {$12.00} = $13.56$ Vanessa needs to pay $$13.56.$